


Chad Rushes Out

by Auburn_Stars



Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergent, Coming Out, If Early 2000s Disney Wasn't A Coward, M/M, The "I Don't Dance" Baseball Scene (High School Musical 2)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:29:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25899715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auburn_Stars/pseuds/Auburn_Stars
Summary: Ryan is beginning to think that Chad might actually swing both ways, yet Chad himself isn't ready to accept it. By the time he finally does, it might be too late for Chad and Ryan's relationship.
Relationships: Chad Danforth/Ryan Evans
Comments: 6
Kudos: 174





	Chad Rushes Out

**Author's Note:**

> Who would've thought I'd be writing HSM fan fiction in 2020? I certainly didn't. Though I guess if your reading this I'm not entirely alone. So, enjoy :D

Chad hadn’t known what to do when in the middle of the Lava Springs staff baseball game, Ryan Evans had stepped up to the pitcher’s mound. He wasn’t even a staff member, how was he allowed to just waltz in there? He supposed it was his country club after all, and apparently the whole thing had been set up just to get him to dance, with the speakers playing some blaring song and everything. Normally he would have just tried to ignore it and continue with the game, but on top of the fact that Ryan was getting hard to ignore lately, he knew this wasn’t just about dancing. 

Ever since Troy had been promoted, one of the few employees that didn’t go to East High had been left with his former job of cleaning the pool. Chad wasn’t sure of his name but he did know that he had no right to make him feel the way that he did when he smiled at him. He always wore eyeliner and he looked as though he had the softest hair in the world and it wasn’t fair, because Chad wasn’t gay and yet-  
“Are you checking out Kyle?” Ryan asked, causing Chad to almost fall into the pool when he jumped. Ryan reached out and put a hand on his shoulder to try and steady him.  
“No? What- I- No, I don’t-” He stammered, trying to figure out if Ryan had purposefully let his hand linger, and why he was even thinking about that. It didn’t matter if he did, he didn’t care, so why was he trying to read into it? Eventually Ryan lowered his hand back down to his side. “Where did you come from?”  
“Mr. Fulton’s office. He has to re-write the rules due to Shar’s demands so I’m supposed to tell Kyle to lock up when he’s done.” He narrowed his eyes at him. “What are you still doing here? Were you actually checking out Kyle?”  
“No!” He said, apparently a little too loud as Kyle stopped and looked over at them. Ryan waved and Kyle waved back before returning to his pool duties. “As if. I don’t like guys.”  
“Are you sure?” Ryan asked, smiling. It was a joke, and he could have laughed it off, but, for some reason, he didn’t.  
“No.” There was a pause, and he couldn’t read Ryan’s face.  
“Oh.” His voice sounded almost hurt, which didn’t make sense. Ryan was gay. Everyone knew Ryan was gay It wasn’t like he had told Troy or Zeke or Jason or any of the other Wildcats who would either shun him or just be careful to never stand too close for the rest of their lives for fear they might turn too, like being gay eas some sort of terrible, infectious thing.  
So then why did Ryan sound so… upset?  
Chad immediately felt awful, and then he felt awful for feeling awful because why did he feel this way? He didn’t like Ryan, he liked girls. He liked Taylor. Yet there was Kyle and there was Ryan, and there were his stupid feelings that he wished would just go away.  
“So do you actually like Kyle then?” Ryan asked, snapping him out of his despair.  
“No, well, I mean yes, but…”  
“But your not gay?” Ryan offered.  
“No. I mean- you know what, forget it.” He said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and rushing out. 

Apparently Ryan hadn’t forgotten though, hence the baseball game turned musical number. The whole thing full of analogies and metaphors, and he was sure it was meant to tell him it was ok to come out, but he just wasn’t ready. He wasn’t gay! Yet he was torn between not being able to admit it to himself and wanting Ryan. He was sure his family and friends would be fine with it, at least most of them, but that was just guessing. Besides, he liked girls. Girls never gave him an identity crisis, they were easy, and there was no chance his family might throw him to the street for liking them.  
For some reason though, his attention kept shifting back to Ryan. Ryan and his sharp wit and his golden hair that practically glowed for the few seconds when he would take off his hat and the sun would hit it. 

After the game, Ryan had pulled him aside and into the empty dugout.  
“Nice moves.” He said.  
“You too.”  
“Thanks.” Ryan seemed stiffer than usual, like he was nervous about something. It was normal to notice how stiff someone usually was, right? He wasn’t staring at him too much or anything, right? I mean, he always paid attention to him whenever he was in the room, but Ryan was just nice to look at and- Okay. Maybe he did like Ryan. Like a lot.  
“So, you don’t exactly like Kyle because you like me? Is that it?” Ryan asked.  
“How-? Is it obvious? How do you know?” Chad himself had only come to realize it just seconds ago. He sure wasn’t ready for Ryan to know yet.  
“I didn’t. Shar told me. Apparently it was super obvious to her as she made sure I knew how oblivious and idiotic I was being.”  
“She’s actually the worst. How can you stand to be near her?”  
“She can be.” Ryan shrugged. The angle of the sun and the brim of his hat was obscuring his eyes. They were this shade of pale green that always made him feel calm. “But she’s my sister.”  
Ryan turned away, and now he could see his eyes. They were filled with worry, and at the same time seemed so distant as he stared out across the empty baseball diamond. “Anyway,” He said. “You never answered my question. Do you?”  
“I…” He trailed off and Ryan turned back to him, and before he could think twice he kissed him. Ryan grabbed at his shoulders, startled, and pushed himself away.  
“Yes, then?” Ryan smiled and leaned forward to kiss him this time, and Chad wanted him to kiss him so bad that he almost forgot about the tangle of worry. Almost, but he didn’t, and he panicked.  
Chad stepped back.  
“I- I’m not ready.” He said, and again, he fled. This time with Ryan calling after him as he ran from a terror that mostly existed in his head. That was the problem though, he supposed, because that’s where it could control him. 

And control him it did. 

Almost every day for the rest of that summer, Ryan would try to approach him.  
“Can we just talk? Please?” Ryan asked him one day as he tried to leave the kitchen.  
“About what?” He tried to ask inconspicuously, as he couldn’t simply run or hide this time. He was cornered.  
“After the baseball game?”  
“What about it?”  
“Do you actually like me or not?” Ryan’s perfect, calming green eyes bore into him. Chad was silent for a long time. It wasn’t that he didn’t know the answer, at this point he definitely did, he just didn’t want the answer to be what it was. It made his life so much more complicated than it needed to be.  
So he lied.  
“No.” He said. “I’m sorry.”  
“Don’t be. It’s the truth.” Ryan said, and it was like a punch to the gut. “That’s all I needed to hear.” His face was a mask of emotions as he turned and left, no longer blocking the doorway so that Chad could leave.  
Only this time he didn’t.  
He stood there frozen as he felt all the shards of his heart jab into his chest. Saying that was supposed to make these feelings go away, only now it was so much worse. What had he done? He wanted to run after him, to tell him he had lied, that he actually did like him, so so much, it was crazy. Yet he didn’t, he couldn’t. So he just stood there, sad and angry and telling himself it was the right thing to do. He would go back to dating girls, and maybe even ask Taylor to prom this year, and everyone would be happy. Yet right now he didn’t feel happy, and he didn’t want to take Taylor to the prom. He wanted Ryan. 

That was the last time that Chad saw Ryan that summer. 

When the next school year started it was normal, at first, until he noticed Ryan. It was almost impossible not to thanks to the fact that seemingly all East High seating charts were alphabetical, putting Danforth right next to Evans. It has still taken him a while though, because on the surface nothing seemed wrong, yet it had been a few months and Ryan had not once started a conversation with him, and even when they did talk he never smiled, he never joked, he never laughed. Chad loved his laugh, it always made everything better, no matter what was wrong. He didn’t think he could make it through the last year of high school if he never heard it again. 

As much as he was praised for being brave and strong on the basketball court, it turned out that off it, he definitely was not. It took him until March to realize that if he kept waiting for the right time to come out he might as well plan on living in the closet forever.  
First he told his brothers, then his parents, then Troy and the rest of the team at the afterparty of the championship game. They all reacted pretty well, though it was really awkward at times, it felt like a weight had been lifted. No one had been too weird about it and a few Wildcats even gave him two quick pats on the shoulder as they told him that was “cool” and ok and that they supported him. 

Even after he came out, everyone expected him to ask Taylor to prom. In fact, he himself had been planning on it until in the middle of U.S. History when Ryan dropped his pencil and it rolled to a stop under his desk.  
“Can you-”  
“Here.” He handed it over, and their hands touched when he took it back, and the butterflies that had laid dormant in his stomach for so long decided to start fluttering again.  
“Thanks,” Ryan said as he quickly turned back to the essay they were supposed to be writing. Chad turned back to his paper too, but he couldn’t focus on anything but Ryan, so instead of writing, he spent the rest of the class in a daze wondering if he had completely ruined his friendship, and his chances, last summer. He never meant for any of this to happen, but at the very least he thought he would have been over it by now. He decided he needed to stop running away. It was time he did something. 

“Earth to Chad?” Jason called, waving his hand in front of his face.  
“Sorry, what?”  
“I said are you going to ask Taylor when we get to lunch?”  
“Actually, I was thinking...” He trailed off. It was still weird to say. He had tried to block it out for so long.  
“Thinking? About what? Is everything ok?”  
“Uh, yeah actually.” He said, though Jason still looked over at him concerned. “I think I might still have a crush on Ryan.”  
“Ryan Evans?” Jason asked shocked. “Wait, still?!”  
Chad didn’t have to answer that because by that point they were at their lunch table and Gabriella had just sprinted over with some news, dragging Kelsi behind her.  
“Ryan just asked Kelsi out to the prom!” She shrieked and Chad felt his heart drop.  
“Wait, but-” It wasn’t even so much that he wanted to go to prom with Ryan, it was that Ryan had asked a girl. What did that even mean?  
Jason inhaled through his teeth. “Yikes.” He said and patted Chad on the shoulder before sitting down.  
“What?” Gabriella asked, taking her usual seat next to Troy. Jason looked at Chad to see if it was ok to fill her in, but Chad didn’t notice, he was staring off again.  
“Are you joining us?” Zeke asked, as Chad was now the only one left standing.  
“No. I- I have to go do something.”  
“What’s up with him?” He heard Taylor ask distantly as he started off towards Sharpay and Ryan’s table. 

“Twelve o’clock,” Sharpay said and Ryan whipped around to see Chad storming over. “I’ll take my leave.” She said and got up, quickly walking past Chad, and down the hall towards the practice rooms.  
“Where’s she going?” Chad asked.  
“What can I help you with?” Ryan asked, ignoring his question. His heart sank just a bit, as it dawned on him that if he had ever had a chance of Ryan agreeing to go to prom with him, it was probably long gone, even before Ryan had asked Kelsi. Yet for some reason he just couldn’t let this go.  
“You asked Kelsi to the prom?”  
“Yes.”  
“But you’re gay?”  
Ryan sighed before answering.  
“Yes.”  
“Why?”  
“Why am I gay?”  
“No, why did you ask Kelsi to the prom? You’re not leading her on or anything.” Ryan’s gaze bore through him. His usually calming green eyes were fiery. Chad immediately knew he should not have said that. Things were just getting worse and worse.  
“No. I am not.”  
“Look… Is something wrong?” He asked, because if he left now he was almost certain things would never get better between him and Ryan, and he was sure he would regret that for the rest of his life.  
“Yes, Chad.” He said, and it stung his heart, even though he knew what Ryan was going to say, his tone had shifted now from passive-aggressive to sad and tired and he almost couldn’t take it. This was all his fault, and it seemed Ryan knew that too as he explained it to him.  
“You kissed me. You admitted you had feelings for me, and then you kissed me, and then you pretend like I didn’t exist for almost an entire year and only now do you come back, and not to say your sorry or to offer any explanation, but to accuse me of leading someone on. What was that?”  
“I do like you. Like, I really like you.”  
“Then what was that?” Ryan asked, his voice was strong again now, and unwavering, yet his hands trembled uncontrollably. “Because I have lo- cared about you for so long. Do you have any idea-?”  
“I just needed time. I’m out now. I don’t,” He took a breath, “I don’t hate myself anymore.”  
“Well that’s- well that’s just great,” Ryan said, and Chad could see his resolve starting to break.  
Ryan looked down at the table for a long time, and Chad just stood there watching him, unsure of what to say, unsure if there was anything he could say that would make the things better.  
“Why did you come over here? Was it just about Kelsi?” Ryan asked, and when he looked up he had tears in his eyes, and Chad wanted to take back his remark on not hating himself because now he sure did.  
“I- I was going to ask you to prom.” He said, and it was the quietest Ryan had ever heard.  
“You what? After- after everything?”  
“Yeah. I’m really sorry. I thought that if I could get away from you it would either go away or give me some space to think. I still missed you, especially since at a certain point it seemed like you, like, lost interest in me. I don’t know what I was thinking today, I just, I guess I thought I’d give it one last shot. At least have some closure or something when you’d said no and then-.  
And then Ryan pulled him down and kissed him, and for a second he was so shocked he couldn’t comprehend it, and then he did, and he was kissing him back, and then they were making out in the middle of the crowded school cafeteria and it was the best feeling in the world, like winning the championship game, only this was so much better, or at least it was until he heard a voice behind them.  
“So much for the plan then.” It was Kelsi.  
“The plan?” Chad asked.  
“Yeah,” Ryan still held onto him, so Chad was stuck in this awkward half-standing position, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want Ryan to let him go. “Kelsi isn’t out to anyone so she asked if I would go with her since we’re both gay she thought it might give us both a bit of cover”  
“Oh,” Chad said, still trying to process everything that had happened in the last several minutes. “You guys can still go if you have to.” Kelsi smiled and shook her head.  
“No, you two go. I’ll be fine on my own.”  
“Sharpay still needs a date,” Ryan said and Kelsi snorted.  
“You know what, I think I’ll pass.” She smiled and turned to leave. “You two have fun.” 

And they did. 

As they slow danced together, it was as if nothing else mattered except for this moment where Chad could stare into Ryan’s beautiful green eyes, so close to him he could just lean forward and kiss him, and so he did, and Ryan kissed him back.

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually my first ever fic, so if you liked it let me know. Comments are always welcome (but please be nice)!


End file.
